gh the palpitating suspense of her brain. "The
Gaelic mind works slowly, though it works exceeding sure. He will be
exceeding sure that I am a verra poor judge o' women."

At last the little man on the hearth-rug lifted his eyes again to
Jane's; and, alas, how high he had to lift them!

"Nurse--er?" he said inquiringly, and Jane thought his searching eyes
looked like little bits of broken blue china in a hay-stack.

"Rosemary Gray," replied Jane meekly, with a curtsey in her voice;
feeling as if they were rehearsing amateur theatricals at Overdene, and
the next minute the duchess's cane would rap the floor and they would
be told to speak up and not be so slow.

"Ah," said Dr. Robert Mackenzie, "I see."

He stared hard at the carpet in a distant corner of the room, then
walked across and picked up a spline broken from a bass broom; brought
it back to the hearth-rug; examined it with minute attention; then put
one end between his teeth and began to chew it.

Jane wondered what was the correct thing to do at this sort of
interview, when a doctor neither sat down himself nor suggested that
the nurse should do so. She wished she had asked Deryck. But he could
not possibly have enlightened her, because the first thing he always
said to a nurse was: "My dear Nurse SO-AND-SO, pray sit down. People
who have much unavoidable standing to do should cultivate the habit of
seating themselves comfortably at every possible opportunity."

But the stout little person on the hearth-rug was not Deryck. So Jane
stood at attention, and watched the stiff bit of bass wag up and down,
and shorten, inch by inch. When it had finally disappeared, Dr. Robert
Mackenzie spoke again.

"So you have arrived, Nurse Gray," he said.

"Truly the mind of a Scotchman works slowly," thought Jane, but she was
thankful to detect the complete acceptance of herself in his tone.
Deryck was right; and oh the relief of not having to take this
unspeakable little man into her confidence in this matter of the
deception to be practised on Garth.

"Yes, sir, I have arrived," she said.

Another period of silence. A fragment of the bass broom reappeared and
vanished once more, before Dr. Mackenzie spoke again.

"I am glad you have arrived, Nurse Gray," he said.

"I am glad TO have arrived, sir," said Jane gravely, almost expecting
to hear the duchess's delighted "Ha, ha!" from the wings. The little
comedy was progressing.

Then suddenly she became aware tha